Use honey first for a cough, new guidelines say
新指南說，首先使用蜂蜜治療咳嗽
Honey and over-the-counter medicines
should be the first line of treatment for most people with coughs, new
guidelines recommend.
新指南建議，蜂蜜和非處方藥應該是大多數咳嗽患者的第一線治療藥物。
Antibiotics should rarely be prescribed by
doctors for coughs because in most cases they do little to improve symptoms,
health officials say.
衛生官員說，醫生很少會開出抗生素來治療咳嗽，因為在大多數情況下，他們幾乎沒有改善症狀。
Most of the time a cough will improve on its own within
two to three weeks.
大多時候，咳嗽會在兩到三週內自行改善。
The new recommendations for doctors are
intended to help tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance.
醫生的新建議用意在幫助處理抗生素耐藥性的問題。
Overusing antibiotics is making infections
harder to treat, by creating drug-resistant superbugs.
過度使用抗生素而製造出耐藥性超級細菌，讓感染更難治療。
'Huge problem' 大問題
A hot drink with
honey - and often with lemon and ginger as well - is a well-known home remedy
for coughs and a sore throat.
蜂蜜熱飲 - 通常加檸檬和生薑一起 - 是熟知的咳嗽和喉嚨痛偏方。
Now new proposed
guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
and Public Health England (PHE) say there is some limited evidence that it can
help improve cough symptoms.
現在，國家衛生護理卓越機構（NICE）和英國公共衛生學院（PHE）提出的新指南表明，有一些有限的證據表明它可以幫助改善咳嗽症狀。
Cough medicines containing pelargonium,
guaifenesin or dextromethorphan might also be beneficial, they say.
他們說，含有天竺葵，癒創甘油醚或右美沙芬的咳嗽藥物也可能是有益的。
Patients are being advised to use these
treatments and wait for symptoms to improve on their own, before going to a GP.
在去家庭醫生之前，患者被建議自行使用這些治療方法並等待症狀改善。
Most coughs are caused by viruses, which
cannot be treated by antibiotics and will clear up on their own.
大多數咳嗽都是由病毒引起的，病毒無法靠抗生素治療，並會自行消除。
Yet despite this, research has previously
found that 48% of UK GP practices have prescribed antibiotics for a cough or
bronchitis.
然而，儘管如此，研究人員事先已發現，已經有48％的英國家庭醫生的醫務為咳嗽或支氣管炎開抗生素。
Dr Susan Hopkins, a deputy director at
PHE, said: "Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem, and we need to take
action now to reduce antibiotic use...
PHE的副主任蘇珊霍普金斯博士說：“抗生素耐藥性是一個巨大的問題，我們現在需要採取行動減少抗生素的使用......
"These new guidelines will support GPs to reduce
antibiotic prescriptions and we encourage patients to take their GP's advice
about self-care."
“這些新指南將支持全科醫生減少抗生素處方，我們鼓勵患者接受家庭醫生關於自我護理的建議。”
Check symptoms 檢查症狀
However,
the guidelines recommend that antibiotics may be necessary for a cough when it
is part of a more serious underlying illness, or when a person is at risk of
further complications, such as those with chronic health conditions or weakened
immune systems.
然而，指南建議，當咳嗽是一種更嚴重的潛在疾病的一部分時，或當一個人有進一步併發症的風險時，例如那些患有慢性健康狀況或免疫系統較弱的人，可能需要使用抗生素。
Honey is
not recommended for children under the age of one because it occasionally
contains bacteria that can cause infant botulism.
蜂蜜不建議1歲以下的兒童使用，因為它偶爾含有可導致嬰兒肉毒桿菌中毒的細菌。
(想要更多了解 ➡️ https://goo.gl/N7wWvz）
(想要更多了解 ➡️ https://goo.gl/N7wWvz）
Dr Tessa
Lewis, GP and chair of the antimicrobial prescribing guideline group, said:
"People can check their symptoms on NHS Choices or NHS Direct Wales or ask
their pharmacist for advice.
家庭醫生兼抗菌藥物處方指南小組主席Tessa Lewis博士說：“人們可以在NHS Choices或NHS Direct
Wales檢查他們的症狀，或向藥劑師諮詢。
"If
the cough is getting worse rather than better, or the person feels very unwell
or breathless, then they would need to contact their GP."
“如果咳嗽變得更糟而不是更好，或者患者感覺非常不適或呼吸困難的，那麼他們就需要聯繫他們的家庭醫生。”
The
draft recommendations are part of a raft of new antibiotic prescribing
guidelines being developed jointly by PHE and NICE.
建議草案是PHE和NICE聯合開發的一系列新的抗生素處方指南的一部分。
England's chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, has previously
warned of a "post-antibiotic apocalypse".
英格蘭首席醫療官，薩利戴維斯教授此前曾警告過“抗生素後期大災難”。
If the drugs fail, infections will become
harder to treat and common medical procedures such as cancer treatments and
transplants would be too risky, she said.
她說，如果藥物治療失敗，感染將變得更難治療，而癌症治療和移植等常見的醫療程序將會太冒險了。
The consultation on the new guidelines
closes on 20 September.